Team Building
by secretkeeper0024
Summary: Sara and Ava need to work their issues so that they can lead their teams. Complete.


Team Building.

Chapter One.

"John Constantine?" "What?"

"Nora Darhk?" "Here."

"Gary Green?" "Here."

"Nate Heywood?" "Here."

"Jonah Hex?" "Yes, Ma'am."

"Rip Hunter?" "Yes."

"Jefferson Jackson?" "Here."

"Amaya Jiwe?" "Yes."

"Sara Lance?" "Yep."

"Ray Palmer?" *general whispering and snickering

"Ray Palmer?" "Here."

"Less chatter, please."

"Mick Rory?" "Can I go now?"

"And feet off the table, please." Mick didn't move a muscle.

"Ava Sharpe?" "Present."

"Leonard Snart?" "Yeeess?"

"Zari Tomaz?" "Here."

"Helen O'Troy?" "I am she."

"Wally West?" "Here, Here and over here."

"Mona Wu?" "Im Mona" she answered, standing up with her hand in the air. It appeared that Mona was completely oblivious that her name had been called as part of the roll call, just like the twenty or so names called before hers, and that she wasn't wanted for anything in particular.

"Ok, that's everyone present on my list for this weekend's Team Building workshop", the short, pudgy woman used the side of her left index finger slide her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. Looking around at the group, she laid the clipboard down on the table and moved forward with a smile that she hoped inspired confidence.

Her name badge was large and proudly proclaimed her name to be Bingo Edgecroft in hot pink sharpie marker, the letters made more distinguishable by the grey shadow of creative calligraphy. She moved from behind the table to the front, leaning on it, she tapped the corner of her name badge and said "Welcome everyone. My name is Bingo Edgecroft and I will be your facilitator this weekend as we navigate this two day, overnight team building adventure."

"Housekeeping. Beverages and snacks at the back of the room, help yourself. Restrooms are out this door and to the right, the lunch room is through the same door, to the left. If you need medical attention, there is a nursing station across the quad and…" continued Edgecroft, signalling the direction of the nursing station, "next door to that is the admin office. In case of an emergency we will evacuate whichever room we happen to be occupying, immediately and in a calm manner, to reconvene under the old oak on the other side of the residential units where you left your personal belongings this morning." Again, the woman indicated the general direction of said tree.

Most members of the group were looking intently at their fingernails. One or two stared out the windows. Only a couple gave Edgecroft the courtesy of eye contact throughout her little orientation speech, their eyes following her hand gestures, memorising the potentially important points of contact. Still, there was plenty of time for the team to warm up, to her and to the inevitability of actual participation.

"I understand this group represents two organisations, am I right? Some of you work with the Time Bureau and some of you are Legends?". There was a smattering of snickers at the implication that the Bureau types were less than legendary and Edgecroft's eyes scanned the room. She correctly deduced that those enjoying the joke were Team Legend and those not would likely be Team Bureau.

Whilst Ava's overstated eye roll was not missed by Edgecroft, there was another more obvious indicator of team membership. Clothing. Ava was dressed in her Bureau uniform - navy blue pant suit, crisp white shirt, her hair immaculately groomed and pulled into a tight, no nonsense knot at the back of the head. It had been clearly communicated that civilian clothing would be appropriate for the purposes of breaking down the barriers between these teams.

Ava's wardrobe choice clearly signalled her commitment to the Bureau, as an employee that was generally encouraging, but as a leader tasked with bringing these teams together - it was less than ideal. Further, as an individual, it betrayed personality traits that craved a high degree of control of her environment and indicated a preference for structure and rules. Her counterpart, on the other hand, appeared the complete opposite.

Edgecroft's task was to get these two women on the same team, to develop an appreciation of each others' skill set and to forge some kind of working relationship. Once these two were on the same page - their teams should follow. Edgecroft noted that a few other participants had likewise been unable or unwilling to forgo the obvious signalling of group membership, whilst they may have been less formally dressed they still carried their Bureau Blazer like the status symbol it was.

The Legends were obviously a more rag tag bunch! They were not flying any obvious visual membership flag - unless that in itself was the signal. Edgecroft thought one of the fellows was wearing pyjama pants - the one who had wanted to leave, Mick. Yes, it was highly likely that the flag this crew was flying was that of rebels.

"I understand that you all know each other? If so, we can modify the initial introductory activity. Usually the first activity involves introducing ourselves and a little game play to help us remember each other's names, but perhaps we can do something a little more meaningful?"

Nobody responded. Edgecroft was not in the least bit put out, she was familiar with the dynamics of individual and group resistance, it was especially on display at the start of training. "Is there anyone here who doesn't know everyone?" Again, no verbal response, but Edgecroft took notice of the eyes of a couple of participants looking around at their cohort, mentally pleading for permission to participate.

One such, Mona, she noted, easily remembering her name because it was the last to be called. And the tall fellow in the middle, her eyes scanned the roll to see if she could recall which name was his. Ray, yes! If Edgecroft's knowledge of group dynamics was anything to go by, these two - Mona and Ray were the genuine extroverts of the group, extroverts in the clinical sense not the pedestrian sense. Already displaying highly social qualities, these characters are energised by group activity, they rely on others for stimulation and avoid being alone for any length of time.

"I'd still like to play the game" Ray said raising his hand and looking around hopefully. "Me too" said Mona, "participation will solidify our personal connection with the group." "Anybody else?" asked the facilitator, looking around, pleased that her initial assessment had been confirmed. After a short pause, Ava interjected with "The Bureau is paying for this educational opportunity, I therefore submit that we should participate in the full agenda and not cut corners". Her eyes were focussed on her hands, folded before her on the table. She knew her contribution was not going to be a popular sentiment but as the senior Bureau representative she felt obliged to, well, represent the Bureau's interests.

A communal moan sounded around the room and more than a few backs slid down into their seats in resignation. Only the few mentioned so far were interested in actual participation, let alone self development, the rest had high hopes of winging it - getting through the session quickly and securing an early release.

None of this was lost on Edgecroft, but she felt certain that she could satisfy both the active and the passive participators, and let them leave before the indicated time. She was also convinced that she could secure the Bureau's objectives of breaking down the barriers within and between the groups and foster some genuine cooperation.

"Okay, executive decision. We will do a modified activity - lets move out into the quad", Edgecroft moved swiftly to the door. It was a lovely spring day and being early it was beginning to warm up, she slipped her shoes off and her toes sank into the soft grass. Ray and Mona followed her out, followed reluctantly by the rest, with Mick bringing up the rear and not so subtly swigging on his hip flask.

Edgecroft kept mixing the groups up between activities, watching interpersonal interactions, noting who took on which roles - leadership, team players, planner and the creative members. Everyone's resistance to active participation had been worn down by copious amounts of hot coffee and a desire to obliterate competing teams in all the activities. Former cliques and alliances began to dissolve as new teams formed and reformed - Bureau versus Legends, men versus women, brains versus brawn and even couples versus singles.

After lunch Edgecroft wanted to observe the interaction between the leaders of each team and separated them from the larger group. Whilst the other participants continued with various activities, Ava and Sara were set an intricate treasure hunt, with each location holding the clue to the next. Ava read the instructions thoroughly, pocketed the map, grabbed the rucksack with the Bureau logo. She stood sighing by the door, communicating total confidence in her own superior abilities, particularly in comparison with that of Sara Lance.

Sara skimmed the instructions, stared out of the window, sneered in the direction of her rucksack and decided to scan the instructions once again, just to annoy Ava. Eventually, she slithered into the rucksack and made for the door, "Any thoughts about the first clue?" she asked. And for displaying her weakness and what Ava considered a general lack of intellect she received a snort of derision.

Chapter Two.

Ava set a silent, demanding hiking pace, past the emergency oak tree, and out of the camp altogether. She turned onto a small path that headed up the hill without slackening her pace one iota. Sara followed resentfully, "Ok, so you know the first clue?" she tried again. "Yes Sara, I know the first clue. Just try to keep up" Ava threw over her shoulder and without thinking she lengthened her stride to illustrate her superiority.

Sara's first strategy was to simply follow Ava, get through the clues with as little grief as possible and get back to her crew. But as she trudged up the hill it occurred to her that part of the reason they were on this 'mission' in the first place was because of their inability to work together. The hostility between the pair had led to real on the ground consequences. Regardless of who was to blame or what was who's fault, this dynamic was only going to become further entrenched if she and Ava could not find a way to work together.

Besides, thought Sara, I am not clueless, I'm not inept and I'm not an idiot. I put up with it at first because a) I give as good as I get and b) I assumed the contact with the Bureau would be limited and c) who cares what an up tight, Bureau stiff thinks anyway. But clearly the contact between our organisations has increased, each needing the help of the other on particular missions and it appeared, for all intents and purposes, that a growing interdependence was necessary given threats to the timeline and the future of time itself.

Sara walked and thought, not about the clue - to be fair she couldn't even remember what it had said, but about the way Ava was treating her. Sara was not used to tolerating any BS, from anyone, anywhere. Strangers who tried to dominate Sara got a quick one to the throat and then she was on her way, those she felt she may have to see again usually got the benefit of her killer stare before a quick one to the throat. Those that hung around longer usually come around to see that she was awesome - damaged, sure, but once Sara was on your team, you were never rid of her, she was in your corner for the long haul.

Sara stopped abruptly, only just succeeding in not crashing into the back of Ava, who was assessing how to tackle the high ledge before them. "I'll give you a boost and then you can haul me up" she directed, setting her back against the wall part of the ledge, she bent her knees, interlaced her fingers and braced herself. Sara took off her backpack and laid it down on the ground, she laid down next to it and used it as a pillow. "What are you doing?" asked Ava in a voice that made Sara want to punch her.

"I am taking a break. I was hoping we could talk", Sara brought her knees up and crossed an ankle over her knee. "There is nothing to talk about, Sara, we have to get to the first clue" said Ava shaking her interlaced fingers at the woman to illustrate the next step. "Why?" Sara asked. "The clue, Sara, it's why we're here! God, you are like a child who has seen a butterfly, Sara, can't you keep on task for five minutes?"

Sara closed her eyes and kept breathing. Ava, seeing Sara was not about to budge, looked for ways to scale the ledge by herself, she had no interest in carrying around a dead weight team member. She would just complete the stupid task on her own and Sara could explain her failure to the facilitator when she got back. Ava walk from one side of the ledge to the other, around Sara who didn't even bother to move out of her way - was she even awake?

There did not appear any way up, it was too steep and too high to scale alone. Ava shrugged off her rucksack and opened it, it was reasonably heavy and Ava thought perhaps there may be some tools packed that could be useful in overcoming this, and future obstacles. There was a first aid kit, water, snacks, matches and other bits and pieces , but nothing lent itself directly to ascending the ledge. She looked over at Sara, shaking her head.

"So your just going to give up at the first sign of difficulty?" she sneered at Sara, in truth she was quite shocked, she had thought more of Sara than this. She had at least expected Sara to start punching the ledge - not that that would have been effective in the slightest, but that seemed to be an accurate representation of Sara, punching her way out of trouble.

Sara cracked one eye and replied "I haven't given up. On the contrary, I have suggested a strategy conference, which you refused to participate in". "You said you wanted to talk, you didn't say strategy conference?" Ava scoffed. Sara closed her eye and waited. "Ok, fine, what strategy have you come up with to scale this ledge?" said Ava. "None" said Sara. "Exactly, what I thought. So, what's to talk about?", Ava turned to look at the ledge one more time, she looked at the trees growing nearby and let out a long frustrated sigh.

"Here's the thing, Ava," began Sara, opening her eyes and sitting up. "We are not here to complete some treasure hunt challenge, we are here to learn to work together as a team. And maybe you are smarter than me…" Ava cut her off with one of her contemptive snorts to which Sara gave one of her deadliest looks, to which Ava paid serious attention and was immediately silent. Ava may think herself superior to Sara in every way but underestimating Sara's physicality was pure folly.

"As I was saying, maybe. We do important work, you and I. Protecting the timeline, fixing anachronisms, defending the world from deadly threats. So far the Bureau has helped the Legends and, in turn, the Legends have helped the Bureau. You and I need to work together, we need to lead our respective teams, to manage these situations". Sara finished her little speech and wondered whether Ava had heard any of it as she paced up and down underneath the ledge.

"Work together? Like the time you put our vehicles into a collision course? Or the time…", Ava challenged Sara, refusing to let her get the upper hand in part of this interaction. "Yes, yes, we can both come up with a long list of things that annoy us about each other,'' interjected Sara, determined to keep the conversation moving forward. "Annoying? You call threatening to kill your team, and mine, annoying?" said Ava her eyes widening in disbelief.

"Look, Ava, you are illustrating my point - we have been unable to resolve our differences and we need to learn to work together,'' Sara was trying desperately to remain calm. "So, what? Your holding this mission hostage until I admit that you are right?" said Ava, going through the items in her rucksack one more time, determined to scale the ledge. Sara laid back down on her bag and closed her eyes, an idea began to form in her mind, another strategy.

"Let's say, for argument's sake, that you're the clever one, and I am the, I don't know, the hammer. That doesn't mean that I am completely stupid and that you are not physically capable. I'm just trying to say that we each have skills, strengths, weaknesses… When we come up against a problem we should be using the collective strengths at our disposal." Sara was just starting to give up, it was feeling too much like she was fishing for a compliment from Ava and it just felt too awkward.

Ava had repacked her rucksack, she tied one end of a piece of rope to the shoulder harness and the other end to the back of her belt, she positioned the rucksack up right at the base of the ledge. Backing up as far as the rope would allow, she took off sprinting toward the ledge, stepping onto the rucksack to propel herself up over the side of the ledge. She managed to reach it with the top half of her body slung over the ledge, her arms grasping for leverage and her right leg trying to swing up over the edge. She hung there scrabbling for a minute but was unable to secure any purchase and began to slide back over the embankment.

Sara was impressed, she smiled to herself watching Ava scrambling about, and took no joy in watching her fail. She watched Ava slip back to the ground when she heard an unpleasant crack, followed by a scream, as Ava landed awkwardly on one leg. Sara bounced straight up, that was a broken bone if ever she heard one.

Chapter Three.

"Oh Shit, Ava, are you ok?" Sara grabbed Ava from behind with both arms, taking all of her weight, she turned her around and lay her down on the ground. No smart ass retort from Ava was a sure sign that the women was not ok. Sara looked at her face, she was as white as a sheet, and beads of sweat had already begun forming. Ava appeared to be holding her breath and her eyes were squeezed shut. Sara went into emergency mode.

"Ok, Ava, take a couple of deep breaths, ok? I'm going to open up your pant leg to see check the damage. You with me?" Sara needed to keep talking to Ava to both keep her from passing out and to distract her from the pain in her leg, She dragged over her own bag, opened it and spilled out the contents over the ground. The first aid kit had scissors with which she cut open the material and could see quite clearly that Ava had broken her left tibia. Despite all of the blood Sara had been exposed to over the years, she still wasn't all that comfortable with it, she tried to look beside it rather than actually at it, if that makes any sense.

"Hang in there Ava, it's a broken tibia, I'm going to need to stop the bleeding and then splint this leg. You are really lucky though -" at this Ava gave one of her little snorts "Oh good you are still breathing. I was going to say, you are lucky because, although not good for much - I am an excellent first aider," Sara looked up at Ava, glad to see a tight little smile forming. "I will assume that's a grimace of pain rather than a response to my humour".

Sara pulled off her coat and ripped open her button up shirt, pulling it over her head, she kept talking while she poured some water onto a flannel and placed it over Ava's forehead, she placed her coat over ava to keep her warm and as a measure against shock, she used her shirt to compress the wound and looked around for some branches or something to use as a splint. She encouraged Ava to keep breathing, acknowledged her pain and promised to find something for it as soon as the bleeding was under control, she passed her a bottle of water and encouraged her to drink.

Ava must be pretty good with pain, Sara thought, because she didn't cry or moan after the initial scream, she seemed intent on managing her breathing. She watched Sara like a hawk and Sara correctly guessed that Ava would start barking out orders at the first sign of ineptitude. Sara didn't give her that chance, she worked away, having stopped the bleeding, she now bandaged the wound firmly but trying to disturb the limb as little as possible. She continued to chatter away, reminding Ava to drink and keeping the coat up under her chin.

When the leg was bandaged, Sara rolled her empty rucksack up and placed it as a pillow under Ava's thigh, so that her leg was raised a little and off the ground. She grabbed the painkillers from her pack and handed three to Ava, who didn't need encouragement - she swallowed them down with the remainder of Sara's water. Sara snagged Ava's backpack with her foot and dragged it closer, she upturned it, emptying it of its contents. With the knife from the first aid kit, Sara cut open the back pack itself, at the top of the shoulder straps. "What are you doing?" asked Ava, still watching and secretly impressed with the level of care Sara had provided, not only was she indeed a very good first aider but she was kind and caring, even though Ava had been such a bitch to her.

"Well," explained Sara, "In my professional First Aider opinion, the aluminium braces used in this pack pack will make an ideal splint for you leg. I'm cutting a slit into the top here so that I can thread them out, hopefully not rendering the rucksack entirely useless for the next user". Ava raised her eyebrows, not only was that a really good idea about the splint but Sara's idea to preserve the backpack was also quite practical. Sara saw the look of admiration Ava couldn't hide, she pointed to herself and said "Not just a pretty face", "So I see," replied Ava trying to smile despite her pain.

Having worked the pieces free, Sara grabbed the wider bandages from both her own and Ava's stash. "Now Ava I'm going to have to lift your leg a bit so I can splint it, I'm not going to lie, it's going to hurt like a bitch?," then she grinned and said "I could knock you out, if you prefer," Ava laughed out loud despite herself, "I wouldn't give you the satisfaction", "No I don't suppose you would" said Sara smiling under her breath.

"Ok, option one, you hold onto your thigh, raising your leg while I wrap it, or I could rest your foot on my leg but I think that's going to hurt worse. What say you?" asked Sara looking up into Ava's eyes. Ava answered "I'll hold it up." "Right" said Sara, lining up her tools within reach, I've got everything ready, I will be quick as I can". "I know you will," said Ava, and Sara, not looking up, was surprised at both the softness of her voice and was that a compliment? Pain meds must be kicking in, she thought.

"I'm going to start here and when I say lift, you lift," Sara spoke as she placed one splint alongside the break, and applied part of the bandage to secure it, then the second splint on the opposite side, "Ok lift now," she said, Ava drew in her breath sharply and grabbed onto her thigh from underneath she lifted so that her lower leg was off of the ground. "Keep breathing, Ava," Sara reminded her, whilst she wrapped the bandage around the second splint, securing them to each other, bracing the broken limb. Immediately Sara took hold of the leg, taking the weight from Ava and placed it gently on the ground, with a rucksack rolled up under her thigh and one under her knee.

"Good job, Ava," Sara started gathering all of their supplies in one big pile, she separated the water, food and first aid items to remind herself of what was at their disposal. She took a swig from a bottle of water and handed it Ava, telling her to drink, and she opened a protein bar and passed it along as well. "You need to eat and drink, I can't have you going into shock", Ava was still pale and clammy, she had also begun to shiver.

Sara guessed that they were within 10 miles of the camp, she correctly deduced that neither Edgecroft or either of their teams would be concerned about them for quite some time. It would be nonsense to try to move Ava, their best bet would be to bide their time and wait for their crew to find them. Having made this executive decision, Sara announced that she was making a fire, she talked to Ava the whole time, as she circled their little encampment picking up leaves, twigs and sticks. She just described what she was doing, giving Ava something to think about and draw her thoughts away from her pain. She built a little campfire, lit it with a match from the first aid kit and blew on it gently to get the little embers to catch and light up some of the leaves. The little twigs eventually caught and so on.

Sara got a steady supply of larger branches and laid them nearby. When she checked again on Ava she found her struggling considerably, she was shivering, clearly in a great deal of pain and appeared prepared to fall asleep. "Ok you, Come on, no sleeping for you", she slid down behind Ava, her legs either side of her and holding her against her body. Ava had on a big coat already and Sara held her own coat up under her chin as well to keep her warm. "Look at the fire I made, quite the girl scout if I do say so myself," she said trying to distract Ava.

"I say so too" said Ava breathing hard. "You do, huh?," asked Sara giving Ava a hug from behind, "Mayhaps I treat you for concussion too? Thats two compliments I've had from you". "Thank you" said Ava, "I mean it". "No problem. Perhaps I am a bitch, but I'm not going to let you bleed out" said Sara. "Im sorry," said Ava. "Oh forget it, I screw up frequently, as you like to remind me" replied Sara. "Yeah, thats what Im sorry about," said Ava, "that I gave you the impression that I think you're a bitch." "You don't think that?" asked Sara in surprise.

"Can I have more drugs?" asked Ava. "You eat the protein bar and you can," said Sara passing it to her, "Nice change of subject by the way". Ava, taking a bite, shook her head, "I don't think you're a bitch" She chewed her way through the bar thoughtfully, if only for the promised pills to kill the pain from her leg. "You are really annoying though". "Yeah, but most people grow to tolerate me - you are just stuck in the hate phase," said Sara with a grin. "I don't hate you, Sara" Ava stuffed the last bite into her mouth and said "Pills, please".

Sara passed her two more and took the cap of the water off for her, Ava swallowed them down and groaned. "What can I do?" asked Sara. "You've already done plenty, Sara, honestly. Thank you so much, not just for what you have done, but the way you have been so caring, you're really very sweet". "Yes, I am, once you get past my rough edges, I've been told that plenty of times," " said Sara, with a grin, "but come on, let's make the best of this, what do you need? A change of position?" Ava sighed, "Well, Im freezing, can we get closer to the fire?".

Sara noticed that the sun had begun its descent, it was only going to get colder, they were in for a long night. She collected some large fire wood and made a much bigger fire, she collected a store of logs that she could feed the fire throughout the night without having to get up and disturb Ava. She rolled a medium sized log over to the fire, and moved all their supplies down so she could reach them, but moved them out of the reach of the fire. When it came time to move Ava, Sara lifted her onto the second coat and dragged her into position. She took off her long sleeved undershirt, unzipped Ava's coat and eased her out of it, Ava didn't even resist as she pulled her undershirt over Ava's head, it was too small for her but keeping her warm was the priority.

Sara once again slipped in behind Ava, she put the coat over both of them, fed Ava's arms through the sleeves and wrapped her arms around Ava's waist to keep her warm using their shared body heat. Ava shivered and her breaths came in ragged bunches. Sara propped herself against the log and pulled Ava against her, she flattened one hand against Ava's tummy and one against her chest, feeling her heart hammering away. "Don't go to sleep, Ava, it's not good for shock, come on. Why don't you give me a lecture on what else I could be doing or give me a list of what else you don't like about me?" prompted Sara trying to keep Ava alert.

"I am a control freak. No surprises there," Ava's voice was low and breathy, Sara could feel the sweat coming off of her skin despite her goosebumps and shivers. "A list of my shortcomings, I said," reminded Sara. "I am critical of others - I am critical of you because you're so good" admitted Ava. "Whaaat?" said Sara quietly. "You are clever, tough, you get results, everyone respects you" Ava was talked in short breathy rasps but she had stopped shaking and Sara knew her body was keeping Ava warm. "It makes me feel insecure. I work my ass off, I follow the rules… You just seem to show up and apply some random plan of action and hey, presto everything works out.".

Sara was taken aback. "First off, there's no rule to say that we can't both be hard workers, it doesn't need to be a win/lose thing. And second, it's not a random plan, it's the best strategy I can think of, or my team can think of, at the time and third everything does not work out! You of all people know that. When we're out there together, a win is a win - I don't care whose idea it was." "You're right, of course," replied Ava, she was feeling very drowsy and her head was sagging onto to Sara's chest.

Sara dragged her nails across Ava's skin to try to rouse her, "Hey" Ava called out, her voice betraying a dry throat and mouth. "Drink up, woman ," said Sara, indicating the water bottle in Ava's lap. Ava drank and then twisting around to Sara, asked "Are you naked under this coat?". "No, I have a bra and singlet on". "You are really taking this first aid thing seriously, Ava said laughing. "You were freezing" Sara reminded her.

Chapter Four.

"So that's how I ended up on the Waverider." finished Sara, the sun had sunk sometime ago and Sara had done her best to keep Ava awake and comfortable, making sure she kept drinking and offering her food and medication as she thought was appropriate. Sara had also been feeding the fire regularly to keep Ava warm and hoping, if their teams were out looking for them, they would see the fire. "You still awake?" Sara asked giving Ava a light scratch with her nails under her ribs.

"Please stop doing that, its disturbing me," said Ava quietly. "It's supposed to disturb you, You have to stay awake until we can get you back and checked out." replied Sara. "No I mean it's _disturbing_ me," said Ava, emphasizing the word. "I don't get it," said Sara, resting her chin on Ava's shoulder. "And that is _very_ disturbing," Ava continued. "Oh," said Sara, "you mean…"

"Yes, I do mean. You are driving me crazy," Ava groaned. "Have you had too many pills?" asked Sara looking around for the packet to see if she could estimate how many Ava had consumed. "It's not the pills," Ava said squirming, "I always feel like this around you, and now you have your head on my shoulder, your fingers on my skin and your breathing into my ear - and I cant…" she sighed heavily.

Sara's eyes had never opened so wide in her life, this was all news to her, she gently took her chin off of Ava's shoulder and began to breathe away from her altogether. "You can't what? Get up and leave?" she asked. "Exactly," Ava replied, "Well, don't stop, it's worse to feel you stopping than not to feel you starting." Gone was the soft voice she had been using since she had fallen off the ledge and back was the voice Sara was used to, the one that picked and complained and…

Sara replaced her chin and gave Ava a small scratch with her fingernails. Ava leaned into her. Sara thought she detected a pattern. "Can I ask you something, Ava?" "No," Ava replied. They sat in silence for a whole minute before Sara decided that Ava was not the boss of her. "Is that why you are so mean to me? Because I _disturb_ you?". Ava slithered her arms out of the coat sleeves and placed them over Sara's arms, her hands on Sara's hands and her fingers interlacing Sara's, "I'm too sick to talk," she tried. "No, you're not," said Sara.

"Well, I think I am mean to most everybody because they need it, most people will behave to a higher standard if its required of them," Wow! thought Sara, this woman really is out there. "But I think I have been particularly hard on you because you always arc up, you refuse to follow the rules, you never take it lying down. It's like a challenge I just have to win".

"I propose an experiment," Sara turned into Ava's neck and kissed the skin below her ear gently. Ava sucked in her breath and held it. "Feel that?" Sara asked. "Oh yes" replied Ava, "is that the experiment?" "Who won?" asked Sara. "What?" asked Ava, turning to look at Sara. "It's possible for us to both win the exchange," said Sara looking into Ava's eyes. "Oh. I see." said Ava. "And not just in this moment, but with work too." continued Sara. "Yes, I see what you mean," said Ava nodding.

"The thing with experiments though is that they need to be repeated and results validated before they can be declared a success," ventured Ava. "Very true," replied Sara who happily squeezed Ava's fingers lightly between her own and kissed her neck as far as she could reach - disturbing the hell out of Ava.

And that's how their team found them sometime before dawn, Mick and Jonah were the first to find them and sent up a flare. Sara explained that they had run into trouble and that Ava had sustained a broken leg. Mick radioed their need for medical assistance and Ray responded by requesting Gideon pick up Sara and Ava directly from the site so that Ava's leg could be mended and they could be assessed for hypothermia and other possible injuries.

Sara began extricating herself from the shared jacket so that Ava could be lifted onto the Waverider and into the medbay. Ava was exhausted and beyond the pain, she didn't resist as Sara began shifting about. Mick stared into the flames and Jonah stared at Sara's state of undress - neither could figure why the two women would be in the same coat. "Hypothermia, guys!" explained Sara shaking her head, "Please be gentle with her, she's in a lot of pain." Jonah said "Of course" and Mick just grunted, they lifted Ava in a chair lift and took her onboard.

Sara began gathering their supplies when Amaya and Mona came up the hill, "Sara, how are you?" "Are you ok? we've been so worried" they both spoke at the same time. Amaya noticed how tired Sara looked, she helped her boss and friend to stand, saying "Leave that for now, let's get you to Gideon in the med bay." Sara explained that she was fine, that Ava had a broken leg and Gideon would be tending to her first. Amaya insisted that Gideon could do two things at once and helped her onto the ship. Mona stayed behind and gathered up their belongings. Nate was there in no time and took some of the larger logs off of the fire so it would start to die away.

Gideon sedated Ava immediately, she began rehydrating both Sara and Ava before mending Ava's tibia. Gideon praised Sara's first aid response, saying that she had expected Ava to be in a much worse condition. Ava was still out, but Gideon had reset her leg and there were no further health concerns, Sara had been given the all clear and was just laying on the med bay bed waiting for Ava to come around. Everyone from both teams eventually made their way on board the ship, and into the med bay, Sara kept repeating that Ava had had a broken leg but now was fine.

Ara asked Amaya to communicate to Edgecroft that she and Sara had been found and were now, safe and sound. Sara made an executive decision about training - people could either attend or not, as they would, but that Sara and Ava would definitely be resting over the weekend. She asked Amaya to relay that message to Edgecroft saying that Sara would contact her during the week.

The team was exhausted, having been up all night and searching for herself and Ava since early morning and Sara ordered them all to return to their quarters to rest. She waited with Ava, so she wouldn't wake up alone, she hoisted herself off of the bed and pulled a chair up to Ava's bedside. She leaned over her, moved a few strands of hair and gently kissed her forehead, she took Ava's hand and sat down to wait and ponder the things that had passed between them.

Ava woke up before long and was happy to see Sara watching her and waiting for her, she gave Sara's hand a little squeeze and asked "Am I dying?" with a playful smile on her lips. "Not dying, you goose, how are you feeling?" asked Sara kissing the back of Ava's hand. "No pain," responded Ava. "Gideon says your leg will be good to go after a couple of days rest. Gideon, has our patient been given the all clear?" asked Sara to the ceiling. "Welcome back, Agent Sharpe, your vitals are all healthy, your are hydrated and your leg has been reset. If you rest for a day or two you should need no further medical intervention" replied Gideon.

"In your absence I made some decisions," Sara stated bodly, employing a steely stare, defying Ava to challenge her, but Ava simply laid her head back on the bed and waited patiently to hear what they were. First, you and I are going to rest for the remainder of the weekend - that includes all of Saturday and all of Sunday! Either here or at yours, but together." "Aye Aye, Captain" said Ava in earnest.

"Well, that's all really," said Sara laughing, pleased that she was able to gain her point. "I told the others they didn't have to finish the training if they didn't want to" she added, "I figured that now their team leaders were able to work their shit out… the rest will look after itself." "I agree," said Ava tugging at Sara's hand, she pulled her forward for their very first kiss on the lips.


End file.
